The Top 10 Reasons PTZ Cameras Will Benefit Your Worship Video Program

Houses of worship are live streaming their services more and more, mostly relying on volunteers and easy-to-use PTZ camera systems. Here are the Top 10 ways to leverage the benefits of PTZ camera systems in your worship productions.

Houses of worship are live streaming their services more and more. They’re mostly relying on volunteers to produce their video. Pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) camera systems make it easy to produce video especially for volunteers with remote camera controls and easy presets. PTZOptics makes some of the most cost-effective camera systems on the market today. Why? Take a look at the Top 10 list below to see how your ministry will benefit from PTZOptics camera systems.

#1: Easy Camera Control Options

The first reason is easy camera control options. Control multiple cameras from a single location and controller. You can get RS232 control for $299 and IP control (Figure 1, below) for $649. The traditional RS232 joystick has just been redesigned with a new button layout for faster camera switching and intuitive control.

Figure 1. You can control multiple cameras from this IP joystick and controller.

Often, churches are upgrading cameras from SD to HD and find they can reuse control cabling with a second-generation joystick that supports RS232 or RS485 cabling. The IP joystick is ideal for controlling cameras in remote locations over long distances on your network. With the latest Power Over Ethernet PTZOptics cameras (Figure 2, below), it’s now possible to provide video control and power for your cameras over a single CAT5 connection.

Figure 2. PTZOptics PoE camera

#2: Installation Options

The second reason is PTZOptics’ flexible camera installation options. PTZ cameras are compact and unobtrusive. They can be wall-mounted, ceiling-mounted, pole-mounted, tripod-mounted, or just simply placed on a desk.

#3: Open-Source Control Software

The third benefit for houses of worship is open-source camera control software. The open source control software available from PTZOptics now comes pre-built for churches. Once your cameras are on the same network as your computer, you can take control of multiple cameras in a simple web browser (Figure 3, below).

Churches all over the country have been redesigning the open source control software without the need of coding skills to allow volunteers to call up preset camera positions with the click of a button. The open-source control software is absolutely free, so this is a perfect camera control option for low-budget installations.

#4: Camera Presets

Many services have the same things happening in the same places from week to week. You can set up camera presets to quickly frame a shot without having to operate the controls (Figure 4, below). You can even use multiple camera presets simultaneously and fade between them, giving a production extra polish.